THUNDER BAY — Two women from Thunder Bay have launched a podcast called Navigating New Narratives this July to break the stigma surrounding mental health, trauma and personal identity.
The idea originally began with Chyenne Panetta, the podcast’s co-host, who was suggested to start it after advocating on social media for those who have struggled with addiction, trauma, mental health and domestic violence.
While not limited to Thunder Bay, Panetta said there will be a focus on the city.
“We feel like Thunder Bay, as much as there’s a lot of advocacy going on, there still is a lot of misconception and a lot of people putting down the vulnerable community of people that are homeless or addicted,” said Panetta, who hopes to bring an academic side to the podcast and plans to study addiction stigma at Brock University.
“So, we’re hoping with this podcast that we can get a wide range of individuals, so not only people with lived experience.”
These individuals may range from university professors, those in addiction stigma work and exploring why people are ignorant of addiction, to those who have grown up in the lifestyle, not necessarily having been addicted themselves, but who in turn were affected by family and others around them.
“We have mothers who have lost children to addiction that are coming on the show. We also have mothers of sons and daughters who are currently in active addiction and how that’s affecting them. A lot of people with lived experience,” said Panetta.
She said she feels sharing experiences and stories really helps those who are going through the same thing.
“My take on the podcast is that I just want to reach as many people as possible and for as many people as I can to feel not alone and to listen to the podcast and feel good about themselves,” said Panetta.
“There are tons of people that have been through it and we should all start maybe speaking up and not living in the darkness and shame,” she said.
The podcast will also feature episodes with discussions around controversial topics in society, including how to address issues raised by the public in a more productive way and how to move forward.
Raynell Casey, a good friend of Panetta who has lived experiences in overcoming addiction, joined as the podcast’s second host. She said it gave her the opportunity to embrace her story, experiences and where she was to where she is now.
“We’re both drawing on our own personal experiences and journeys throughout our lives to be able to go into this open-minded, completely from an empathetic, compassionate and supportive lens for individuals to open up and share their experiences with us,” said Casey.
“(And) to embrace who they are, to identify the fact that your experiences and your hardships and the trauma that you’ve experienced, everything that you’ve gone through doesn’t define who you are as an individual.”
Casey said this podcast that they’re doing right now is powerful for a lot of different people.
“I think there’s so much stigma around individuals who are struggling and it ultimately prevents them from reaching out for help or moving forward or even building that rapport with individuals because they’re scared of judgment. Like I’ve been there myself,” said Casey.
She said they also definitely have a diverse background of individuals who are looking to be on the podcast from so many different walks of life and experiences.
“It’s actually kind of wild how many people have reached out to Chyenne and I about wanting to be on the podcast to be able to embrace their stories, which I think is amazing,” said Casey, who also works with Elevate and has many contacts who have reached out to the podcast.
The channel has already launched three episodes on YouTube, with more episodes every Thursday.
It is also expected to expand onto Spotify, Apple subscription, open a website to sell merchandise and many other platforms at the beginning of August.
Those looking to get involved with the podcast can do so now through email, Facebook Messenger and subscribing on YouTube.
